I hate for this to be one of my first post here but anyways... Over the past month or so I have been fighting with my truck. Started out as a small misfire with a #8 injector code on the Service Engine Soon light, and has now been determined that my diesel with only 130,000 miles on it needs a new engine. They run anywhere from $3,000 for a used one to $8,000 for a remmaned one. Thats not including the almost $2,000 that it would cost to have it installed. Turns out the previous unknown owner of my truck ran a K&N air filter on it and didn't keep it oiled. The dealership found dirt inside my motor thus eating the #8 piston ring and god only knows what els. #8 only has 250psi of compression out of the 350 to 400psi that it should. Unfortunately enough I owe around $15,000 on the truck and have absolutely no $ to put into it (let alone buy another vehicle). I don't know what I am going to do and am open for any suggestions. In short due to the lack of truck and or spirit I will be one of the less active members of this chapter. However I will do my best to stop by and see what is going on here and still plan to meet up with yall at one of your events. I greatly appreciate everyone on this whole website especially my coe Californians. It is a sad slow down to my soon arrival of this chapter and hope everyone is doing well.

Thanks!

 

Sorry to hear about your loss, fellow FTEr and Santa Cruz local (I'm guessing, since most slugs don't want anything to do with trucks). Seems everyone I know with a diesel has been going through all kinds of problems lately. Wish I had another one of my free beater trucks around for you to use, one will come up eventually (I'm like a magnet for gas guzzling garbage).

 

I was part of a large group that ran all sort of diesel engines in farm tractors and field trucks. I know they will eat a lot of dirt and still function. Also, mechanics like to swap in rebuilt motors instead of fixing them - the shop makes about as much money doing that with less time in the stall, and less liability.

What I am saying is that you could have been sold a bill of goods - your engine might be patched together for much less. You need to give this some thought, and talk with a few experts.

Is the cylinder scratched? If you don't need a re-bore job, maybe you can push the piston out with the engine in place and replace the rings, or even the piston and rings.

On the bigger engines we used to do "in-frame" overhauls, and the guys would bore the engine without removing it from the truck. I don't know if they do it to the smaller pickup engines.

 

Don't give up hope yet...the guy I coach Softball with is into Ford deisels, I'll see him tonight and ask if he knows where one may be, won't ease the install budget, but might take a bite out of the engine cost.

 

Thank you everyone- Taylor: Thanks for the thought and yes i am a local. If anything pops up that would be great.

*****- I had it at one dealership originally and i didn't like what they said, so I took it down to my friends place in Monterey he is a trusted colleague and friend of mine from the local dirt tack and he is one of the top rated diesel techs in the area I would trust my truck with him no matter what so i greatly trust his diagnoses.

3MIKE6- thank you if you here of anything for "cheap" that would be good.

 

Yea- I like the re-ring idea. Fixng is much better than replacing. Jag

 

You're making it sound like a woman. Now that I think about it, neither will turn over unless you're real nice to them.